CIF-State to add regional football round
I meant to comment on this last week, but the CIF-State offices have added a regional round of playoffs to be played between the CIF-SS championship round and the state championship bowls. And as far as I'm concerned, this should have happened years ago.
I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the BCS-type selection process for the championship bowls. It's a bit too political for my blood and it excluded quite a few teams - read San Bernardino County teams - that could have had a shot for greater things. How cool would it have been last year to see Colton attempt to continue its Cinderella run against a team like La Habra, which won the Southwest Division? I bet the Colony teams of 2006 and 2007 would have loved to have march on against another section champion, along with 2006 Big Bear, 2008 Rancho Cucamonga and 2009 Upland teams. More football is always fine by me and the term "state champion" means more when there are more teams given the opportunity to play for these championships.
As far as the new format of the state playoffs is concerned, there will be five regional title games that feed into the five state championship bowls (Division 1-4 and open). The bowls will be played December 14-15, meaning that the regionals will take place Dec. 7-8 and the CIF championships will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 1. That'll bump the start of the regular season up a week, so Week 0 will take place the last weekend of August instead of the first weekend of September.
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About T.J.
T.J. Berka has been covering sports for The Sun since 2006. As a graduate of the University of Michigan, T.J. know good sports when he sees them - at least he thinks he does.
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SO BASICALLY WHAT CIF IS DOING IS SHORTENING THE PERIOD ATHLETES HAVE IN FULL PADS TO PREPARE FOR A SEASON AND MAKING THE SEASON OF A TEAM THAT DOES WELL LONGER. THATS A LOT OF FOOTBALL TO BE PLAYED BY 15 THRU 18 YEAR OLDS. I SEE A PROBLEM IN THE NEAR FUTURE. MOST PLAYERS HAVED PLAYED THE GAME FOR ATLEAST TWO TO THREE YEARS BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL AND MOST OF THE YOUTH LEAGUES NOW HAVE 10 TO 12 GAME SCHEDULES WITH BOWL GAMES AND CHAMPIONSHIPS. THE PROBLEM IS, THAT IS A LOT OF FOOTBALL AND WITH THE ATHLETES GETTING BIGGER,FASTER AND STRONGER THERE IS MORE RISK FOR GREATER LONG TERM INJURIES. NOW I HAVE COACHED THE GAME FOR OVER 24 YEARS AND I JUST THINK THIS IS RIDICULOUS ON CIF'S BEHALF. WHAT ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THE KIDS? OR IS IT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY?